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Thomas, Lawyer

Category: UK Property Law

Satisfied Customers: 6838

Experience: BA (Hons), PgDip, Practising Solicitor

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I am a landlord who recently terminated an agreement with a

Resolved Question:

I am a landlord who recently terminated an agreement with a letting agent who was managing my rental property because they were in breach of contract for not passing on money they had collected from the tenant. The tenancy agreement states that the deposit paid by tenant to the letting agent was paid into a government protected scheme Mydepost.co.uk. but I have found out the at the agent has not actually done this. Both myself and the tenant have contacted and written to the letting agent on numerous occasions requesting them to return the deposit to the tenant so that I could place the money in a deposit scheme. The letting agent has failed to do so and continually promises to make payment on certain dates and fails to do so. This has been going on for almost three months. The letting agent is no longer contracted to manage my property but I am unsure how to recover the deposit the tenant has paid to the agent.

You and the tenant together should write a formal letter to her stating the details of the deposit and that you require the money to be paid back within a reasonable time (eg 7-14 days). State that you will issue a claim at Court for the outstanding monies if necessary.

If no response is received then your only option is to issue a claim yourself through Her Majesty's Courts Service's online service www.moneyclaim.gov.uk . You and the tenant should both by the claimants in this matter. It's very straightforward to use and pretty cheap.

This website contains lots of useful information for issuing a claim yourself:-http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/Makingacourtclaimformoney/DG_195118

If the agent does not react to the letters then suing is your only option, it’s not a criminal matter so the police won’t be interested. On the basis of what you have said the claim is completely straight forward though.

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